Norwich schools chief says cut imperils teaching jobs

More than 30 non-tenured teachers have received layoff notices from Norwich Superintendent Abby Dolliver, and several will have to be let go if aldermen back a more than a $1 million budget cut to the school board’s 2013-14 budget, she told the City Council on Monday.

More than 30 non-tenured teachers have received layoff notices from Norwich Superintendent Abby Dolliver, and several will have to be let go if aldermen back a more than a $1 million budget cut to the school board’s 2013-14 budget, she told the City Council on Monday.

Distributing layoff notices is a routine part of the budget process and does not mean the positions will be cut, but administrators warned it’s an avenue that would have to be pursued should aldermen support City Manager Alan Bergren’s recommendation to slice $1.5 million from the school board’s budget proposal for next year.

“Whatever you cut, it’s going to have to be staff, and I don’t know from an education standpoint how you do that,” Business Administrator Athena Nagel said during a budget workshop with the council.

On March 12, the city’s Board of Education approved a $71.8 million spending plan for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1. That represents a $1.5 million, or 2.15 percent, increase over current funding levels, which accounts for a tuition hike levied by Norwich Free Academy.

Bergren has proposed a $70.38 million allocation to the district in 2013-14 as part of his overall $116.5 million budget, a recommendation that carries no increase from the current year’s school budget and is $1.5 million less than what the city’s Board of Education recommended in March.

“We’re already at a zero percent (increase) pre-K (kindergarten) to 8, so if we cut $1.5 million from our budget, that’s where it will come,” Dolliver said.

More specifically, the reductions would impact the elementary schools, since discretionary programs like middle school world languages have already been eliminated.

“The $1.5 million decrease would come from pre-K to 5, which is even more breathtaking because we all know that early intervention is our best resource,” Dolliver said.

Officials said 33 teachers have received layoff notices, but getting rid of them would be expensive since the district pays unemployment “dollar for dollar.” Nagel said administrators set aside about $11,000 for each layoff.

During a meeting with reporters earlier this month, Bergren said state budget officials told him the school system was eligible to apply for a waiver to use specially earmarked money from Alliance District funding for day-to-day operational expenses.

Dolliver and state officials said days later such an exemption does not exist, and she reiterated that on Monday.